Input Help

How to set up and use Input. In Input, Ask Input answers from this page too.

How to use Input

Input doesn't replace Mail, Slack or Messages: they keep all your mail and messages, and you can still use them as before. Input is a productivity tool that brings them into one place, so you focus on what matters and never miss what counts. For anything Input doesn't do, Command-O opens the conversation in its own app.

1. Start with Important. Go from the top. Reply, or press Done when there's nothing to do. Each finished card leaves the list.
2. Can't handle it now? Snooze it to a better time. It comes back unread, near the top.
3. Then scan Everything else. Most of it can wait or needs nothing.
4. Something in the wrong tab? Move it to Important. Input remembers, and learns how you sort.
5. Nothing else needs you? Right-click the Everything else tab and choose Mark All as Read or Mark All as Done.
6. Once a day, check Waiting for answers you're still expecting. Nudge drafts a gentle follow-up.

Tip: you can do it all from the keyboard. Arrows move between cards, R replies, Y marks done.

Getting started

First launch? Input is invite-only for now. Open the pairing link of someone who uses Input, choose Open in Input, then Join. You arrive paired with them.

Add an account to see your messages. The Welcome card at the top of Important helps you finish setup.

How do I add accounts? Add them one at a time:

1. Open Settings > Accounts > Add Account.
2. Under Found on this Mac, choose an Apple Mail account, Messages or Calendar. Or choose Reading (IMAP)…, Sending (SMTP)… or Calendar link (iCal)….

What does the Welcome card do? It lists what's left to set up and fills in what Input finds on your Mac. Each row turns into a check mark once done; choose the x to skip one. The card stays until you choose Hide.

Why allow access? Full Disk Access lets Input read Messages and Apple Mail where they store messages. Allow it in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access. Calendar access shows today's meetings. Contacts access shows names. Control Mail lets Input send, mark read and archive through Apple Mail. Control Messages lets it send through Messages; Messages conversations can't be marked read or archived from Input.

How do I set up AI? Open Settings > Agent and choose a provider. For Anthropic, OpenAI or xAI, paste your own key and click Save and test. Apple's on-device model needs no key, but needs a Mac with Apple Intelligence turned on and its model downloaded; Settings shows when it's ready. With Apple's model, Input corrects the replies you type and tidies your to-dos; plain rules sort your messages. Without AI, plain rules sort your messages. To stop using AI, turn off Use AI in Settings > Agent.

How do I connect Slack or Jira? Open Settings > Integrations. See Adding Slack and Adding Jira for the steps.

Adding a Gmail account

Input reads Gmail over IMAP and sends over SMTP. It uses a Google app password, a 16-letter password Google makes for one app. Your Google password never goes into Input. 2-Step Verification must be on in your Google account.

1. Make an app password. Open myaccount.google.com/apppasswords, signed in to the Google account you're adding. Check the picture at the top right: another account is a common mix-up. Name it "Input", click Create, and copy the 16 letters.
2. Add the account. In Input, open Settings (Command-,) > Accounts > Add Account > Reading (IMAP)….
3. Fill it in. Type your Gmail address and paste the app password without spaces. For an @gmail.com address, the server fills in by itself. For a Google Workspace company address, use imap.gmail.com, port 993.
4. Connect. Click Save and test. "Signed in. Nothing was read yet." means it worked. If it fails, check that the password comes from the same Google account and has no spaces.
5. Send too. In the account's settings, click Add SMTP for this account. It uses the same password.

Mail appears within a minute. A copy of recent mail stays on this Mac only, and the password is kept in the macOS Keychain.

Sending from another address? Set it up in Gmail first, under Settings > Accounts and Import > Send mail as. Then add it in Input under the sending account's Also sends as.

Adding Slack

Input reads your Slack direct and group messages, the threads you're in and the messages that mention you. It also sends your replies.

1. Connect. In Input, open Settings (Command-,) > Integrations > Add Integration > Slack…, then click Connect Slack.
2. Allow. Slack opens in your browser. Check the workspace name at the top right, then click Allow. If your browser asks to open Input, let it.
3. Done. Input finishes connecting automatically. Your workspace appears in Integrations. Your token stays in the macOS Keychain.

Input then checks Slack at regular intervals.

Want new messages at once? Turn on live updates. A small Slack app of your own delivers only your new messages to Input as they arrive. In Settings > Integrations > your workspace, open How to turn on live updates and follow the four steps.

Using two or more Macs? Each Mac needs its own Slack app. If two Macs share one app, each gets only half the messages live.

Slack asks for an admin's approval? Some workspaces require an admin to approve new apps. Ask your Slack admin.

Using your own Slack app? Open Use a token instead, paste your user token (xoxp-...) into User token, then click Connect.

Adding Jira

Input shows Jira issues assigned to you, reported by you or watched by you as cards. In the projects you follow, it also shows comments that mention you. You can comment, change the status, assign an issue to yourself, and stop watching an issue you're only watching.

1. Make an API token. Sign in to your Atlassian account at id.atlassian.com/manage-profile/security/api-tokens. Click Create API token (not the one with scopes). Name it "Input", choose the longest expiration and copy the token.
2. Add Jira. In Input, open Settings (Command-,) > Integrations > Add Integration > Jira….
3. Enter your details. Enter your site, such as yourcompany.atlassian.net, and the email you use to sign in to Jira. Paste the token.
4. Connect. Click Connect. Your Jira settings open, with your projects.
5. Follow projects. Switch on the projects where comments that mention you should show.

Input checks Jira regularly. Command-R checks now. Your token stays in the macOS Keychain. Your email and token go only to Jira.

Already getting Jira's emails? Turn on Silence Jira emails in Settings > Integrations > your Jira site. They stop showing in Input and stay unchanged in your email.

Token expired? Make a new one, then connect Jira again with the same site and email. Your followed projects stay the same.

Adding Claude

Hand off needs Claude Code, Anthropic's coding agent, on this Mac.

1. Add it. In Input, open Settings > Integrations > Add Integration > Claude….
2. Check Claude Code. Claude's settings show the version Input found. Input needs Claude Code version 2.1.285 or later. If your version is older, click Update Claude Code. Claude Code not found? Click How to install it, install Claude Code, then return to Input.
3. Add Input's tools. Click Add next to Input's tools. New Claude Code sessions can use these tools to list, read, send and answer your inputs, and to handle your to-dos. Claude Code asks for your approval before each send. To make these tools available to sessions already open, quit and reopen the Claude app.
4. Open a session. Hand off sends an input to a Claude Code session. First, open a Claude Code session in the Claude app. If Input's list is empty, click Refresh.

On a company plan? If the tools don't appear, your Claude admin may need to allow them.

Handing off to Claude

Use Hand off when the other person is waiting on you to answer a Question, a Decide or their reply. It sends that input to one of your Claude Code sessions.

How do I hand off an input? Under Share, uncheck any file you don't want to share. Then click a session. Open sessions appear first, followed by sessions you used before. The card waits in Drafts while the session prepares your answer.

Next time in the same conversation, the button shows Hand off to followed by the session's name. Click it to hand off to that session again. Files you left out stay unshared. Click the × next to the session's name to choose another session.

The session reads the input and drafts the answer with you. Before sending, Claude Code shows you the recipient and the answer's text and asks for your approval. Once you allow it, the answer is sent, and the card leaves Drafts.

Want to answer yourself instead? Choose Discard on the card in Drafts.

A session can see only inputs it sent or inputs you handed off to it. It asks for your approval before looking at all your inputs.

A ✻ at the start of a message means an AI agent, usually a Claude session, prepared the message. Hover over the ✻ to see which agent prepared it.

Handing off a Jira issue

Use Hand off on a Jira card to give the issue to one of your Claude Code sessions. Claude reads the issue in Jira, proposes a plan and waits for your go-ahead. When you're satisfied with the work, Claude updates the issue itself with a comment, a status change or an assignment. It shows you any comment before posting it. The card waits in Drafts while Claude works, then in Waiting once Claude has reported in Jira.

How do I set it up? The session needs Jira tools from Atlassian. You only need to set this up once.

1. In Terminal, run claude mcp add --transport http atlassian https://mcp.atlassian.com/v2/mcp.
2. Start claude in Terminal, type /mcp, and sign in to Atlassian.

Input checks for these tools each time you hand off. Without them, the card says so and nothing is sent. Sign-in refused? Your Atlassian admin may need to allow Atlassian's MCP server.

Creating a Jira issue

Use Create a Jira to turn an email or a Slack message into a Jira issue. The button appears next to Done and Snooze on your work emails and Slack messages.

1. Pick a project. Click Create a Jira. Your recent projects appear first. To find another, type in Search projects.
2. Let AI write it. Click the project. With AI set up, Input writes a summary and a description and picks the issue type. The original message is quoted below the description.
3. Finish in Jira. Jira's create page opens in your browser, filled in, with you as the reporter. Check it, set the assignee and any other fields, then click Create.

Without AI? The summary is the email's subject or the message's first line, and the description is the message itself.

Inputs

An input is a message to someone else who uses Input. It says what it expects: a Question waits for an answer, an FYI only informs, a Decide offers choices answered in one click. Inputs are sealed on your Mac, so only the two of you can read them.

1. Pair. Choose File > Copy Pairing Link. The first time, Input sets up pairing and opens its settings: click Copy Link once your link shows. Send the link to the person, any way you like. They open it: someone who already has Input sends you a request; someone new joins and arrives paired with you.
2. Accept. A request appears at the top of Important. Choose Accept. You're paired.
3. Write. Press Command-N and type their name. Input comes first under their name. Return sends; Shift-Return adds a line.

Inviting someone? Your pairing link is also your invitation: someone new who uses it arrives paired with you, and uses one of your invitations. Settings > Accounts > Input shows how many you have left. Pairing with someone who already has Input never uses one. If your link spreads, choose Reset Link.

Changing your name? Edit Your name in Settings > Accounts > Input. Everyone you're paired with sees the new name.

Question, FYI or Decide? Under the box, Sends as shows what the input expects. With AI on, Input picks one as you type; a question a yes or a no answers becomes a Decide with Yes and No. Click another to change it. Without AI, it's a Question.

Sending a Decide? It needs two to four choices with text, shown under the box: click one to edit it, × removes it, + Add adds one. The other person answers with one click, or writes a reply instead.

What happens next? Your Question or Decide waits in Waiting, for up to 14 days, until they answer; then it comes back to Important. An FYI waits for nothing. On their side, a Question always lands in Important, and so does an FYI, unless their AI finds it can wait.

Replying? Open the card and write. Sends as offers Question, Reply or Decide. Under your last message, Sent turns into Delivered once one of their Macs has it. Input never shows when they read it.

Sending files? Drag or paste them into the box, up to 20 MB per message, as for email. Pictures show in the conversation; other files show under the message: click one to open it in Quick Look, or right-click and choose Save to Downloads. A file can be fetched for 30 days; once fetched, it stays on that Mac.

Reacting? Right-click their message and pick an emoji. Click your own to take it back. An emoji on your question counts as an answer.

Finished? Done finishes the card. On an answer to your question, Done also closes the input for both of you. A closed input is never lost: Ask Input finds it, and Restore brings it back for both of you. A new message brings it back too.

Got someone's link? Open it and choose Open in Input, then Send Request. You appear with your name and the address you pick. Your request waits in Waiting until they accept. A pairing link clicked inside Input opens there directly.

Someone you don't know? A request shows the name and email they typed, and "not in your contacts" when Input doesn't know the address. Decline is quiet: they aren't told.

Want to stop? In Settings > Accounts > Input, the × next to a person unpairs you both. Reset Link stops your old link from working.

Notifications? Input tells you about new inputs, replies and pairing requests while it's in the background. Turn this off in Settings > Accounts > Input.

Using several Macs? Your pairing reaches your other Macs through iCloud Keychain: sign in to the same Apple Account and turn on iCloud Keychain on each.

On your iPhone? Choose Help > Get Input for iPhone. Read, answer and send inputs, and get notified, wherever you are. Use the same Apple Account, with iCloud Keychain on.

How Input sorts

Important holds conversations that need your attention soon. Everything else holds those that can wait. Both tabs have counters.

What belongs in each tab? With AI on, direct questions, people waiting on you and anything time-sensitive or tied to a meeting go in Important; newsletters, notifications, receipts and FYI messages go in Everything else. When unsure, the AI chooses Important. Without AI, simpler rules sort: messages from people not in your contacts, emails where you're only copied and group messages that don't mention you go in Everything else.

Why is a card here? Plain rules make a first pass. With AI on, Input sorts each new conversation, and every card shows Why here.

Want to move a card? On an open card, choose Not important or Important, or right-click > Move to Everything Else (or Move to Important). Input keeps your choice for that conversation, learns from it and sorts that sender's other cards again. Your corrections follow you to your other Macs.

Does Input learn general rules? Yes. From all your moves, the AI writes rules, broadest first, such as "Put Amazon emails about your orders in Important." New messages are sorted with them, and your rules and moves take priority over the general guidance. See them in Window > What I've Learned (Command-L). Relearn updates them now. The × removes a rule and forgets the moves behind it on all your Macs.

Want some apps first? Turn on Show inputs first, Show Messages first, Show Slack first or Show Jira first on that app's page in Settings. In Important, their unread messages then appear first in each group. With several on, inputs come first, then Messages, Slack and Jira.

What does the dot mean? A filled dot means unread in the original app. A ring means read. Reading a card never moves it. The color identifies the address or account it reached you through. Set colors in Settings > Appearance.

Can I unsubscribe? Unsubscribe appears between Done and Snooze when an email offers it. It uses the sender's unsubscribe method, then archives the email. If the sender's page opens, finish there.

Your day

Today's meetings appear in the left column, with the next one highlighted. Use the card controls to finish work or set it aside.

Ready for a meeting? Ten minutes before a meeting with a video link, a video icon appears on it: click it to join. Switch calendars off in Settings > Accounts > Calendar.

Want a meeting's details? Click the meeting in your day or in Ask Input's answer to see who's coming, their answers and the agenda. Click a name to email that person, or Email all to email everyone. Press Command-O to open the meeting in Calendar.

Calendar not on this Mac? Add it to Apple Calendar first: open System Settings > Internet Accounts, add your account and turn on Calendars. Then, in Input, choose Settings > Accounts > Add Account > Calendar. If you prefer, use a calendar link: choose Calendar link (iCal)… in the same menu, paste your calendar's iCal link and click Save and test. For Google: Google Calendar > Settings > your calendar under Settings for my calendars > Integrate calendar > Secret address in iCal format. Input checks a link regularly; press Command-R to check it now.

Finished with a card? Choose Done or press Y. For email, it also archives the email. For Slack, it marks the message read. For Messages, it finishes the card in Input. For an input that answers your question, it closes the input for both of you. For Jira, it finishes the card in Input and changes nothing in Jira. The card comes back when something new happens in the issue. If the app can't be reached, the card comes back with a short red line and Try Again.

In a meeting? During an event on your calendar shown as busy, Input plays no arrival sound, and new unread cards in Important wait under After this meeting, unless they're due before it ends.

Got a file? An email's attachments show under it. Click a file's name to preview it in Quick Look, click the arrow to download it, or drag it anywhere. Jira issues show pictures and files where they were placed in the text.

Want to come back later? Snooze sets a card aside among the read cards, for 30 minutes, 1, 3 or 5 hours, or until 7 AM. It returns unread near the top, sooner if a new message arrives. Right-click it and choose Unsnooze to bring it back yourself.

Waiting for an answer? Waiting lists conversations where you wrote last and expect a reply, for 14 days. The age turns orange when overdue. No longer expecting an answer? Click the card's dot. Nudge drafts a follow-up. Without AI, some sent messages that need no reply may show too. Your Jira comments that @mention someone stay here until someone answers.

Where are unfinished replies? Drafts keeps them for 14 days after your last edit. With syncing on, their text reaches your other Macs; attached files stay on the Mac where you added them. Press Command-S to save a new message there.

Want fewer cards or arrival sounds? Unread Only (Command-U) hides read cards. Set an arrival sound for each tab in Settings > Appearance. It plays on the device and at the volume set for alerts in System Settings > Sound.

Text too small? Move Text size to the right in Settings > Appearance.

To do

Your to-dos sit at the bottom of the left column, under your day. They're also in Reminders, in a list named Input, on your iPhone and your other Macs.

Adding one? Click + under To do, type it and press Return. Press Shift-Return for a new line, or Command-Return to fix spelling and grammar first. You can also type todo: followed by your to-do in Ask Input. If prompted, allow Input to access Reminders.

From a message? With AI on, when a message you open asks you to do something, Input may suggest a to-do above Why here. Click Add to put it on your list.

Done? Click a to-do's dot to mark it done. It stays crossed out briefly, then leaves. Click the dot again before it leaves to undo.

Changing the order? Drag a to-do up or down.

Not now? Right-click a to-do and choose Snooze to hide it until the time you choose. The same menu offers Open for its message, Edit and Delete. You can also double-click a to-do to edit it.

Want to see everything? Press Command-T to also show your snoozed to-dos and those done today. Press it again to go back.

Using Claude Code? With Input's tools added, Claude can list your to-dos, including those done today, add new ones and check them off. Claude Code asks for your approval before adding or checking off.

Writing

The reply box sits at the bottom of an open card. Press R to reply, A to reply all or F to forward.

How do I send? In Messages, Slack, Jira and inputs, Return sends and Shift-Return adds a line. For email, choose Send or press Shift-Command-D.

Mentioning someone? In Slack and Jira, type @ and the start of a name, then pick the person. They're notified.

Want help drafting? Click Draft with AI, the sparkles button, to write a reply. If you've started one, it polishes your text and points out anything you missed. Notes like "say yes and ask for a time" become a reply. Press Command-Return to use it. Command-Z right afterward brings your text back.

Want help formatting? In email and Slack, Format with AI adds lists and bold and fixes spelling while preserving your wording.

1. Hold Shift-Command to turn the sparkles into a wand, then click it. Or press Shift-Command-Return or Shift-Command-T.
2. Review the message as it will arrive. Click to edit, or press Command-Z to undo.

Adding files? To attach files to an email, send it from an address with Sending (SMTP)… set up, then drag or paste the files. They show under the box, up to 20 MB in all. Folders and apps can't be attached. In Messages and Slack, paste or drop pictures into the box. In Jira comments, paste or drop pictures and files into the box. Set signatures in Settings > Signatures.

Need to undo a send? Undo send in Settings > General holds emails for 5 seconds. Press Command-Z during that time to bring one back.

Always replying to everyone? Turn on Reply all by default for email in Settings > General.

Prefer the original app? Command-O opens the conversation in Mail, Gmail, Messages, Slack or Jira. In Messages, your reply is already in the box. For Mail, Gmail and Slack, Input copies it: paste it with Command-V.

Ask Input

The box at the bottom searches your mail, Messages, Slack and Jira together. Press Command-K or Command-F to use it.

Looking for something specific? Use Gmail-style search words: from:, to:, subject:, has:attachment, is:unread, after:, before:, newer_than: and older_than:. Put exact phrases in quotation marks. For inputs, search their words or the person's name; subject: and has:attachment don't find inputs. For Jira, it searches issues from the last 30 days that Input shows.

Can I ask a question? Try "what did Lili say about the contract?" Input searches, answers in a sentence or two and marks the results it used. Questions need AI; without it, Ask Input searches your exact words.

What about my calendar? Ask "when am I free next Wednesday?" Input answers from your calendar and shows that day.

Need help with Input? Ask a question about the app. Input answers from this Help, with Open in Help to read more.

Where do results appear? Results get their own tab. Press Escape to close them. Results include your inputs, closed ones too. You can choose Done or Restore on an email or a Jira issue, and Restore on a closed input.

Keyboard

Use these keys to move through cards and handle messages. Find the list in Help > Keyboard Shortcuts (Command-/).

Moving around?

Handling a card?

Handling several cards?

Writing a message?

Searching and more?

Privacy

Input reads your messages on your Mac, where they already are. Only what a feature needs leaves it: to the services you connect, to the AI provider you choose, and, for inputs, to a relay that can't read them. Passwords, tokens and keys stay in the macOS Keychain.

Can AI act on its own? It sorts and suggests, but never acts in your apps: sending, archiving or deleting always needs your click.

What syncs between Macs? Settings, corrections, rules learned, drafts, snoozes and the read status of Slack mentions and Jira cards sync through the Input folder in your iCloud Drive. Turn syncing off in Settings > General > Sync with iCloud.

What goes into a problem report? Report a Problem adds details about your Mac, never your messages. You send the report yourself.

The full policy? See input-app.com/privacy: what each feature sends, what the relay keeps and for how long, and your choices.

When something is off

Missing something? Press Command-R to check every account now. Look in Everything else, and check that Unread Only (Command-U) isn't hiding it. Ask Input, the search box at the bottom, searches your accounts and inputs. For Gmail, it searches the recent mail kept on this Mac; search in Gmail for older mail.

Seeing "not checked since" near the tabs? Input couldn't reach that account for a while, so its cards may be out of date. It's usually the network or an expired sign-in. Command-R tries again.

Gmail refuses your password? The app password must come from the same Google account and be typed without spaces. If you removed it in Google, make a new one, then use Change in Settings > Accounts.

Messages or Apple Mail missing? Input needs Full Disk Access. Turn Input on in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access. In Input, Settings > Accounts shows each account's permissions, with a Fix button.

A card came back after Done? The card says its app couldn't be reached and shows Try Again. Check your connection, then try again.

Jira refuses your token? Tokens expire. Make a new one on Atlassian's site, then connect Jira again in Settings > Integrations.

Want to see what Input did? Open the Journal with Command-J. It lists what Input checked and sent, with any errors, and never your messages.

Still stuck? Choose Help > Report a Problem. Input prepares an email to support with details about your Mac, never your messages. You read it and send it.

Contact support

Questions, problems and ideas are all welcome. A person reads every message.

From Input? Choose Help > Report a Problem. Input opens an email to support, ready to send. Two chips under it add details that help: Mac details (Input's version, macOS, your Mac, the kinds of accounts you use, recent errors) and, when there is one, the latest Freeze report. Click a chip to leave it out. Your messages are never included.

By email? Write to support@input-app.com from any address.

What helps? Say what you did, what you expected and what happened instead. A screenshot helps too.

What happens next? You get an automatic reply saying your message arrived. Then a person answers.